Uber paid income tax three times higher than the first nine taxi companies in Bucharest altogether

The biggest nine taxi companies in Bucharest have paid income tax to the state in 2016 RON 61,224 altogether, according to statistics reported by the Ministry of Finances, while Uber car sharing service has paid an income tax worth RON 187,000, so three times higher.

Uber operates in Bucharest, Timisoara and Cluj.

Therefore, some of the biggest taxi players on the local market seem “to almost never post profit”. “Firms like Speed Taxi, Pelicanul Grup Taxi or Bageti Star have not paid income tax in any year during 2012-2016. The list of the companies that had to pay no income tax in 2016 is yet much wider and includes, among others, Meridian Taxi or Auto Cobalcescu,” says a release.

According to official statistics quoted by Cristian Lazarescu, vice-president of the Federation of the Romanian Transport Operators, the most profitable taxi company is Taxi Glucoza, which has paid RON 36,341 just in 2016, so half of the income taxes paid by all those nine large taxi companies on the market altogether. Cristaxi service ranks second larger income tax payer, RON 12,016 and Prof Taxi, RON 7,500.

Apart of those RON 187,000 paid by Uber as income tax, there are also extra taxes paid by the Uber partner drivers, meaning VAT, income tax, salary taxes and contributions. For instance, in 2016, 100 Uber drivers paid RON 320,000 taxes.